Leadership

Our Origin Story

Peter Diamandis recognized the need for leaders to understand the exponential pace of change. He first proposed the concept of Singularity University to Ray Kurzweil and to International Space University (ISU) colleagues Dr. Robert D. Richards and Michael Simpson, who became Founding Trustees in mid-2007.

Susan Fonseca, a founding architect, was instrumental in organizing and executing the Founding Conference in September 2008 and finding initial donors. At the first meeting of the Board of Trustees, Salim Ismail was appointed as the founding Executive Director.

Along with curriculum guidance and important support from Christopher Boshuizen, William Marshall, Amara Angelica, Kathryn Myronuk, and Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom, the first incarnation of Singularity University was established with inspiration from the interdisciplinary, international and intercultural principles originally pioneered by ISU. With the leadership of Dr. Pete Worden and his colleagues, Singularity University and NASA established a partnership to host SU’s Executive Program and Global Solutions Program on the NASA Research Park in Moffett Field. Rob Nail was appointed CEO in 2011. The rest, as they say, is history!

Founders

Singularity University was jointly founded by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis and Dr. Ray Kurzweil in 2008. Learn about their vision for SU in this video:

Management Team

Singularity University empowers leaders across the globe to leverage rapidly accelerating technologies in order to tackle the world’s most pressing problems and co-create an abundant future for us all. Our leadership team comprises entrepreneurs, scientists, futurists, inventors, and leaders with the breadth and depth of expertise needed to guide us in achieving our mission.

Board of Directors

The Singularity University Board of Directors includes our CEO, co-founders, and industry luminaries who set our strategic direction.